French minister sacked for tax problems 'also failed to pay rent'

10th September 2014, 0 comments

Former French trade minister Thomas Thevenoud, who lasted less than a fortnight in office before being sacked for tax irregularities, also failed to pay the rent on his Paris apartment, a newspaper said on Wednesday.

This "forgetfulness led to his being threatened with eviction" from his apartment on the upmarket Left Bank of Paris, reported newspaper Le Canard Enchaine.

Thevenoud, who was fired last week for "problems of conformity with his taxes", reportedly failed to pay his rent for three years.

Le Canard said he had confessed to "an administrative phobia" that put him off such tasks. It added that he has now "resolved his debts and changed landlord".

According to the paper, Thevenoud's former landlord "heard about the fiscal problems of his former tenant last week, he called the interior ministry to tell his story."

Thevenoud did not respond to requests for comment from AFP.

Thevenoud's two-week tenure in government provided yet another embarrassment to the embattled Socialist government of President Francois Hollande, who faces record-low approval ratings.

Despite pressure, Thevenoud has stated he will not resign from parliament, although he has quit the Socialist Party.